Systems for taking advantage of complex compound technology comprising solid-vapor compositions formed by adsorption of gas molecules on a solid adsorbent are known. Heat pump systems incorporating reactors provided with complex compounds provide significant advantages over conventional heat pump systems used for residential and commercial space conditioning, industrial heat pumping and refrigeration in view of high temperature lift created by the solid-vapor media as compared to other sorption media. The complex compound based systems can eliminate the need for cooling towers, lift staging, and require few, if any, moving parts. Such systems also obviate the use of objectionable CFCs.
The solid-vapor compounds suitable for heat pumps include complex compounds comprising materials which adsorb molecules of a polar refrigerant gas to form coordinative bonds in which the gaseous reactant coordinates via electron displacement with a solid adsorbent, commonly a solid metal inorganic salt. The adsorption/desorption process releases significant heat during adsorption, and adsorbs energy during the desorption phase. A number of useful complex compounds and systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,822,391 and 4,848,944. Such compounds and their uses and systems described in the aforesaid patents are incorporated herein by reference.
There is a need for complex compound heat pump systems having the capability of simultaneously producing heat, primarily in the form of hot water or steam, and refrigeration. For example, in the food processing industry, hot water, a heat transfer fluid or steam is used in washing and cleaning operations, while other operations performed at the same time, in the same plant, require cooling and/or refrigeration. It is to an apparatus and system that is capable of simultaneously producing such hot fluid and cooling and/or refrigeration, that the present invention is directed.